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Neverness to Everness · A-Rank Arc · Level I Anomaly

Prepare for Rain — Rainman

The cheapest free A-Rank Arc in the game. Walk into the basketball court southwest of Wertheimer Tower, touch the lone umbrella under the rim, defeat two waves of Rainmen and contain the anomaly. First clear hands you Umbrella, the signature A-Rank for Adler and the best free Arc currently available for shield-supports.

Overview

Commission namePrepare for Rain
Anomaly entityRainman (×5 across two waves)
RegionIllusion Town — basketball court southwest of Wertheimer Tower, northwest of Fiscus Avenue
Difficulty★☆☆☆☆ Level I
TypeObject anomaly · two short clear waves
TriggerApproach the lone umbrella beneath the basketball rim
Arc rewardUmbrella (A-Rank · Synthesis · HP and shield-strength Arc — Adler signature pairing)
Key mechanicPure clear — kill the first 3 Rainmen, then 2 more spawn, defeat and contain them

TL;DR — 5 Steps

  1. Fast-travel to Fiscus AvenueIllusion Town district. Walk northwest until Wertheimer Tower is on your right.
  2. Find the basketball courtAn outdoor half-court southwest of the tower. A single open umbrella stands under the basketball rim — no other props give it away.
  3. Touch the umbrellaApproaching the umbrella transitions you into the Anomalous Realm. No prompt — proximity triggers the warp.
  4. Clear the first 3 RainmenSoft humanoid umbrella enemies. They hit weakly and have no parry-required mechanic — basic combo finishes them in seconds.
  5. Clear and contain the final 2Second wave spawns immediately after the first. Defeat them, then interact with the umbrella to contain the anomaly and claim the Umbrella Arc.

Reaching the Basketball Court

  1. Open the world map and fast-travel to any phone booth in Illusion Town near Fiscus Avenue.
  2. Orient so Wertheimer Tower is to the north-east — you are aiming for the empty space south-west of its base.
  3. Walk into the open lot — it reads as a casual outdoor basketball half-court with a single rim and faded ground paint.
  4. Look under the rim — a black umbrella stands open on the ground, with a small black sludge puddle beneath it.
  5. Approach the umbrella. The screen tints dark blue and you transition into the Anomalous Realm with the Rainmen.
  6. First wave: 3 Rainmen spawn around the court. Clear them with any combo — no element gate, no boss-tier HP.
  7. Second wave: 2 more Rainmen spawn in the same arena once the first wave is down. Same approach.
  8. After the last kill, a contain prompt appears on the umbrella prop. Interact with it to seal the anomaly and end the commission.

Enemies: Rainman swarm

This commission has no real boss — instead you fight five umbrella-themed minor humanoids over two waves. Each Rainman is roughly equivalent to a basic field mob: a slow forward swipe, an occasional umbrella-spin AoE, no parry-only attack and no enrage. The point of the commission is not the combat — it's the free Umbrella Arc at the end. List the enemy attacks here only because they're worth knowing the first time you see them.

Umbrella swipe

Dodge

Tell: Rainman raises the umbrella diagonally before bringing it down.

Single-target. Sidestep, counter — same rhythm as a generic field mob. Parrying does nothing special here.

Umbrella spin

Dodge

Tell: Rainman crouches and the umbrella starts rotating before fanning outward.

Short-range AoE. Multiple Rainmen sometimes overlap their spins, which is the only situation in this fight that can pressure a low-DEF character. Stay mobile in the second wave.

Recommended Teams

Adler test bench (Umbrella showcase)

Built for Adler · Umbrella equipped on her after first clear · Aurelia receives shield transfers

  • AdlerAdlerSupport · Incantation · Umbrella signature wearer
  • AureliaAureliaSub-DPS · Psyche · receives shield transfers
  • HathorHathorMain DPS · Lakshana · damage carry

This is the team you build around Umbrella, not the team you need to clear the commission. Adler holds the Arc, the +HP and +shield-strength buffs scale her support output, and Aurelia + Hathor consume the protection on the front line.

Anyone-clears team

Lv I commission — element-agnostic, gear-agnostic

  • NanallyNanallyMain DPS · Anima · two-shots each Rainman
  • ZeroZeroSub-DPS · Cosmos · Charge for AoE
  • SakiriSakiriSupport · Plasma · Support Skill triggers

Bring any team. Prepare for Rain is one of the lowest-difficulty anomaly commissions in the game and is consistently completed by under-levelled rosters. Use this clear as a test for Umbrella once you've equipped it on Adler.

The Reward — Umbrella

A-RankSynthesis
Base ATK lv 1 → lv 8025 → 395
Substat DEF% lv 1 → lv 8021% → 52.5%
Passive — RainmanIncreases the wearer's HP by 10% (R1) → 12% (R2) → 14% (R3) → 16% (R4) → 18% (R5). While the wearer's HP is above 50%, shields they generate are strengthened by the same percentage. The shield-strength bonus applies to shields cast on allies as well, not just self-shields.
Refinement5 refinement levels. Each refinement adds +2 percentage points to both the flat HP buff and the conditional shield-strength buff. No proc cooldown — the buffs are permanent passives while the wearer is on the field with full or near-full HP.
Best usersAdler (signature pairing — the only A-Rank Synthesis Arc that scales her shield-support kit cleanly), Aurelia (HP buff plus DEF substat make her noticeably tankier in solo content), and any defensive sub-DPS whose damage profile doesn't depend on ATK% substats. Skip on glass-cannon DPS — the DEF substat is wasted there.

The best free A-Rank for shield-supports in NTE. Adler used to be one of the weaker 4-star supports purely because of weapon scarcity; Umbrella fixes that completely. Even at R1 it's a noticeable upgrade over any generic A-Rank. Reclear the commission until R5 if you plan to run Adler-led teams in late-game survival content.

Rewards

Umbrella ArcGuaranteed on first clear — contain prompt at the umbrella after the second wave
Hunter Level EXP+120
Annulith+10
Fons+6,000
Bronze Carrota+40
U-00NE+10
Beetle Coin+3,000
Anomaly Material Selection Box I+2
Scale Pattern+1 (rare commission material)

Pro Tips & Common Pitfalls

  • Prepare for Rain is one of the cheapest free A-Rank Arcs in the game. If you're early in the campaign, do this commission before unlocking Adler — the Arc is waiting for her the moment you pull her.
  • The two-wave structure looks like there's a boss coming. There isn't. Don't burn Ultimates on the first wave thinking you're saving them for a tougher second wave.
  • Refinement runs are quick — under 90 seconds per clear once you know the path. Plan 5 reruns to push Umbrella to R5 if Adler will be your primary support.
  • The shield-strength buff also applies to Aurelia's barriers when she's on the field. Adler holding Umbrella + Aurelia receiving the transferred shield is one of the tankiest survival cores in the current meta.
  • Don't confuse this commission with Where Is Home or Prepare for the Storm — Prepare for Rain is specifically the basketball-court spawn, not the road-side encounter. Map landmarks: basketball rim + lone umbrella + black sludge puddle.
  • If you're hunting all anomaly Arcs, this and the Kindness Hard to Refuse commission give you two free supports' BiS-tier A-Rank weapons (Umbrella for Adler, Call of the Twisted City for Edgar) without a single gacha pull.
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